Crossword clues for sponging
sponging
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sponging \Spon"ging\ (-j[i^]ng), a. & n. from Sponge, v.
Sponging house (Eng. Law), a bailiff's or other house in which debtors are put before being taken to jail, or until they compromise with their creditors. At these houses extortionate charges are commonly made for food, lodging, etc.
Sponge \Sponge\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sponged (sp[u^]njd); p. pr. & vb. n. Sponging (sp[u^]n"j[i^]ng).]
To cleanse or wipe with a sponge; as, to sponge a slate or a cannon; to wet with a sponge; as, to sponge cloth.
To wipe out with a sponge, as letters or writing; to efface; to destroy all trace of.
--Hooker.Fig.: To deprive of something by imposition. ``How came such multitudes of our nation . . . to be sponged of their plate and their money?''
--South.Fig.: To get by imposition or mean arts without cost; as, to sponge a breakfast.
--Swift.
Wiktionary
n. The application of a sponge. vb. (present participle of sponge English)
Wikipedia
Sponging may refer to:
- Begging
- tool use of sponges by bottlenose dolphins in Australia
Usage examples of "sponging".
Should there be any fire or dirt pushed down, the sponging will be repeated.
Too much care cannot be used in sponging, as a premature explosion endangers life and limb.
He watched her that night, through a lead-tinged curtain of exhaustion: sponging off the bodies of the sick, holding the hands or heads of the dying.
His men were sponging out, ramming, and levering the guns back into their positions.